Save the Date! Saturday June 3, 2023

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Tehani
Save the Date! The 2023 Aurealis Awards ceremony (for the 2022 Awards) is set for Saturday June 3, 2023. The ceremony will be held at the Ainslie Football and Social Club, 52 Wakefield Avenue, Ainslie, ACT. Further details to follow.
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2022 Aurealis Awards Shortlist Announcement

Posted on March 9, 2023 by aaconvenor

It is with great pleasure the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild presents the 2022 shortlists for the Aurealis Awards.

Our amazing judges have read an enormous number of entered works to bring you these excellent shortlists. It’s always a massive job, and they have devoted significant time to complete it with thoughtful discussion, passion, and integrity. We cannot thank them enough!

Congratulations to all the finalists – there was fantastic competition across the board this year, with more than 800 entries received across the categories. Short story panelists considered nearly 150 individual works, and several long form categories saw over 50 entries each. It was wonderful to see so many entries across the board, with increased numbers in many categories.

We’re delighted to announce the shortlists, and encourage our followers to investigate the finalists to find some great reads! The winners will be celebrated at the Aurealis Awards ceremony in Canberra on Saturday June 3, 2023. More information to follow soon.

NOTE: We do not publish a shortlist for the Convenors’ Award for Excellence. The eligible nominations for this special Award will be shared in a future post, with the winner announced at the ceremony.

2022 Aurealis Awards Shortlists

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

Nottingham Vol 2: A King’s Ransom, David Hazan (writer), Shane Connery Volk (artist), Luca Romano (colourist), Justin Birch (letterer) (Mad Cave Studios)

Dark Heart #1, Scott Wilson, Katie Houghton-Ward & Justin Randall (Gestalt)

The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness, Matt Ottley (Dirt Lane Press) 

Neverlanders, Tom Taylor & Jon Sommariva (Penguin Random House Australia)

BEST COLLECTION

The Art of Broken Things, Joanne Anderton (Trepidatio Publishing)

The Fall: Tales From The Gulp 2, Alan Baxter (13th Dragon Books

Everything Feels Like the End of the World, Else Fitzgerald (Allen & Unwin)

Here be Leviathans, Chris Flynn (University of Queensland Press)

Hard Places, Kirstyn McDermott (Trepidatio Publishing)

Team Queen, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Queer Weird West Tales, Julie Bozza (Ed.) (LIBRAtiger)

The Art of Being Human, Tehani Croft with Stephanie Lai (Eds.) (FableCroft Publishing)

We are Providence, L E Daniels & Christa Carmen (Eds.) (Weird House Press)

Unlimited Futures, Rafeif Ismail (Ed.) (Fremantle Press)

Clamour and Mischief, Narrelle M Harris (Ed.) (Clan Destine Press)

This All Come Back Now, Mykaela Saunders (Ed.) (University of Queensland Press)

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

The Wintrish Girl, Melanie La’Brooy (University of Queensland Press) 

Gus and the Starlight, Victoria Carless (HarperCollins Publishers)

The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm, Karen Foxlee, illustrated by Freda Chiu (Allen & Unwin)

The Raven’s Song, Zana Fraillon & Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)

The Goodbye Year, Emily Gale (Text Publishing)

Mars Awakens, H M Waugh (Allen & Unwin)

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“Forbidden Voices”, E J Delaney (Cast of Wonders #510)

“Crone and the Girl”, Pamela Jeffs (The Seasonals, Four Ink Press)

“Tastes like Home”, Kiera Lesley (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #86)

“Tornadoes, Grief and Poutine”, Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga (Augur Magazine Issue 5.2)

“Enter Elias Schmidt”, Phoenix Raig (The New Mythic, Precipice Fiction)

“Witchy Ways”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Witchy Ways, self-published)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Nona Doesn’t Dance” Aaron Dries (Cut to Care: A Collection of Little Hurts, IFWG Publishing Australia)

“Lidless Eyes That See”, Geneve Flynn (From the Wasteland, PS Publishing UK)

“They Call Me Mother”, Geneve Flynn (Classic Monster Unleashed, Crystal Lake Publishing and Black Spot Books

“Dread Circus”, Pamela Jeffs (That is TOO Wrong! An Anthology of Offbeat Horror Vol 2, Black Hart Publishers)

“The Hunt”, Martin Livings (Light Falling From a Long Dead Star, self-published)

“Beach Memories”, Matt Tighe (The NoSleep Podcast, S18E06)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“Rat’s Alley”, Jeff Clulow (From the Wasteland, PS Publishing UK)

“Kookaburra Cruel”, Aaron Dries (Damnation Games, Clan Destine Press)

“Glyphlight”, Matan Elul (The New Mythic, Precipice Fiction)

The New Wife, Kirstyn McDermott (Brain Jar Press)

“Among the Faded Woods”, Faith Mudge (The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing)

“Songs from Dark Annie’s Bower”, Angela Slatter (Gaslight Ghouls: Uneasy Tales of Sherlock Holmes, Belanger Books)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“The Icecutter’s Daughter”, Aiki Flinthart (The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing)

“Ashes”, Tania Fordwalker (Aurealis #151)

“Tastes like Home”, Kiera Lesley (Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #86)

“Salon Faerie”, Tansy Rayner Roberts (self-published)

“Beautiful Horizon”, Steve Simpson (The Purpose of Reality: Solar, Meerkat Press)

“The Past Laid Out On The Table”, Matt Tighe (Cast of Wonders 506)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

“The Ocean, the Lighthouse Keeper, and the Sunset”, Lee Cope (The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing)

Hovering, Dorothy-Jane Daniels (Luna Press)

“Merry in Time”, Kathleen Jennings (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #352)

Winterbloom, Kirstyn McDermott (Brain Jar Press)

“Among the Faded Woods”, Faith Mudge (The Art of Being Human, FableCroft Publishing)

The Bone Lantern, Angela Slatter (PS Publishing)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“As Though I Were a Little Sun”, Grace Chan (Fireside Magazine #102)

“Death By Water”, Grace Chan (From the Wasteland, PS Publishing UK)

“Fake Plants”, Scott Limbrick (The Furphy Anthology 2022, Hardie Grant)

“Synaesthetics”, Helena O’Connor (Nature)

“Sharing a Meal at the End of the World”, Anya Ow (Haven Speculative Issue Six)

“One Man Army”, Scott Steensma (Aurealis #156)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

Resembling Lepus, Amanda Kool (Grey Matter Press)

“The Goruden-Mairu Job”, T R Napper (Night, Rain, and Neon, NewCon Press)

“The Sisters of Saint Nicola of The Almost Perpetual Motion vs the Lurch”, Garth Nix (Tor.com)

Cobalt Blue, Matthew Reilly (Pan Macmillan)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Night Lights, Sarah Epstein (Fourteen Press) 

The Rarkyn’s Familiar, Nikky Lee (Parliament House Press)

Only a Monster, Vanessa Len (Allen & Unwin) 

If You Could See the Sun, Ann Liang (HQ Fiction)

We Who Hunt the Hollow, Kate Murray (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)

League of Liars, Astrid Scholte (Allen & Unwin)

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Sallow Bend, Alan Baxter (Cemetery Dance)

Scavengers, Robert Hood (Clan Destine Press)

The Stranger, Kathryn Hore (Allen & Unwin)

The Stone Road, Trent Jamieson (Erewhon Books)

Path of Thorns, Angela Slatter (Titan Books)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL 

The Not So Chosen One, Kate Emery (Text Publishing)

The Stone Road, Trent Jamieson (Erewhon Books)

A Restless Truth, Freya Marske (Tor)

Blitz, Daniel O’Malley (HarperCollins Publishers)

Path of Thorns, Angela Slatter (Titan Books) 

Honour Among Ghosts, Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Hovering, Rhett Davis (Hachette Australia)

The Stranger, Kathryn Hore (Allen & Unwin)

36 Streets, T R Napper (Titan Books)

Here Goes Nothing, Steve Toltz (Hamish Hamilton)

Bootstrap, Georgina Young (Text Publishing)

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2022 Aurealis Awards close in THREE DAYS!

Posted on December 11, 2022 by aaconvenor

Entries for the 2022 Aurealis Awards close on Wednesday December 14!

It’s essential that ALL works published (or planned for publication) between

1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022

are entered by this deadline.

CHECK OUR CURRENT ENTRIES LIST

TO MAKE SURE YOUR WORK IS ENTERED.

Enter your Australian speculative fiction work in the Aurealis Awards here.

If you have a publication due out in late December, please enter it NOW.

If publication is delayed into 2023 we can remove it from consideration in this year’s Awards, but we are NOT able to enter carry over work published late in the year into the following year.

ENTER NOW

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2022 Aurealis Awards are open for entry

Posted on August 29, 2022 by aaconvenor

We are delighted to announce that the 2022 Aurealis Awards are now open for immediate entry.

The Aurealis Awards, Australia’s premier awards for speculative fiction, are for works created by an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and published for the first time between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022.

We strongly encourage publishers and authors to enter all works published already this year by September 30, 2022, then subsequent publications as they are released; our judges appreciate having time to consider each entry carefully.

Entries for the Aurealis Awards main categories close on December 14, 2022.

Full guidelines and FAQ can be found on the Aurealis Awards website:

Rules

FAQ

The Aurealis Awards judges welcome electronic entries in all categories, including novels, short stories, novellas, illustrated work / graphic novels, collections, anthologies, children’s and young adult fiction. The Aurealis Awards management team recognises the financial burden of entering multiple works in multiple categories to some authors, editors and publishers at independent small presses. We accept epub files, although PDF may be provided if no other format is available (particularly for graphic works). Print may also be supplied.

Finalists of all Award categories will be announced early in 2023 and winners announced at a ceremony to take place in the first half of the year. For more information on the Awards or for the entry forms, visit the Aurealis Awards website at https://aurealisawards.org/.

For more information contact the judging coordinator Tehani Croft at aajudges@gmail.com.

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Announcing the 2022 Judging Panels

Posted on August 12, 2022 by aaconvenor

We are very pleased to welcome our 2022 Aurealis Awards judging panels. We had a massive response to our call out this year, and are delighted to welcome both returning and new panelists to the team. All our judges are volunteers and we are extremely grateful for their hard work and professionalism throughout the process. The Awards would not exist without them!

Judging Coordinator: Tehani Croft, assisted by Joanne Anderton

Horror Novel
Georgina Banfield
J M Merryt
Glenn George
Celia Pearce
Nathan Phillips (Convenor)

Horror Novella
Jake Corvus (Convenor)
Anna Hepworth
Aimee Murphy
Donella Reed
Yunn-Yu (Christine) Sun

Horror Short Story
Caitlin Chisholm (Convenor)
Charmaine Clancy
Roslyn Phillips
Marija Sijakovska
Christine Titheradhe

Anthologies / Collections
Susan Beasley
Emma Cutting
Alannah Pearson
Mark Phillips
Cathie Tasker (Convenor)

Illustrated Work / Graphic Novel
Eugen Bacon (Convenor)
Sarah Custace
Christopher Marcatili
T R Napper
Lucas Palermo

Fantasy Short Story
Paula Boer (Convenor)
Ben Dominish
Natalie Haigh
Cary Lenehan
Allister Smith
Sarah Swarbrick

Fantasy Novella
Olivia Carter
Deb Gates (Convenor)
Raymond Hodgson
Elizabeth Robinson-Griffith
Rebecca Sutherland

Science Fiction Short Story
Dianne De Bellis (Convenor)
Nick Hartland
Amy Laurens
Mark Lingane
Wen Moore
Darren Nash

Science Fiction Novella
Deborah Brown
Paul Cormack
Irene Davy
Alexandra Pierce (Convenor)
Lynda Young

Fantasy Novel
Finn Barz
Elizabeth Fitzgerald (Convenor)
Stephen Hipkiss
Heidi Kneale
Ruth Lawlor

Science Fiction Novel
Lorraine Cormack
Mark Fazackerley (Convenor)
Marian Foster
Jan-Andrew Henderson
Paul Voermans

Children’s Fiction
Miffy Farquharson (Convenor)
Ky Garvey
Emily Meredith
Mia Macrossan
Bron Swasbrick

Young Adult Novel
Bethany Barrass
Jess Drake
Stephanie Gunn (Convenor)
Martha Itzcovitz
Emilie Morscheck

Young Adult Short Story
Debbie Berger
Jess Gately (Convenor)
Melanie Ifield
Samara Lo
Louise Nice

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2021 Aurealis Awards Ceremony Recording

Posted on July 9, 2022 by aaconvenor

Thanks so much to the CSFG team (particularly Nathan!) who made this happen. If you missed the ceremony, which took place in person at the Hellenic Club in Canberra in May, and was simulcast online, you can now view it in all its glory.

Huge appreciation to Craig Cormick for his wonderful hosting duties, to all of the people who attended on the night, and those who joined us online for the ceremony – it was an absolute delight. And as always, to our amazing judging teams, for their work each year in what is, I can assure you, a massive and often very challenging job! They are the lifeblood of the Aurealis Awards, and we are so grateful for their time and energy in this space.

You can see the program booklet for the ceremony, including the panel reports, below.

aurealis-awards-2021-ceremony-bookletDownload

(Please note, this video is unedited, as aired!)

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Aurealis Awards 2022 – Call for Judges

Posted on July 8, 2022 by aaconvenor

Please read the following information carefully before submitting your application as we cannot make exceptions to the requirements.

We are seeking expressions of interest from Australian residents who would like to judge for the 2022 Aurealis Awards. Judges are volunteers and are drawn from the Australian speculative fiction community, from diverse professions and backgrounds, including academics, booksellers, librarians, published authors, publishing industry professionals, reviewers and enthusiasts. The only qualification necessary is a demonstrated knowledge of and interest in their chosen category – good time management skills and an ability to work in a team in an online environment are also essential.

All judges must be willing and able to read digital entries in either mobi or epub format, which we accept in all categories. Graphic Novel entries may also be submitted in PDF. Print is still sometimes sent by entrants but we do not require it.

Panel sizes may vary among categories – and from year to year – depending on the perceived workload required and the availability of judges for a particular category. However, each panel will consist of at least three judges, one of which will be the panel convenor.

Being an Aurealis Awards judge involves reading entries for one panel (which may comprise more than one category). This may consist of several dozen novels and/or more than a hundred short stories / novellas in the process of evaluating the year’s entries. The reading load can become quite heavy at the end of the judging period although we endeavour to obtain works as soon as they are published. Judges may keep their reading copies of entries. Convenors of each panel are also required to participate in the judging of the Convenors’ Award for Excellence, which involves additional consumption of material.

Categories are: 

  • Science Fiction Novel
  • Science Fiction Short Story / Novella (two categories sometimes judged by one panel)
  • Fantasy Novel
  • Fantasy Short Story / Novella (two categories sometimes judged by one panel)
  • Horror Novel / Novella / Horror Short Story (three categories judged by one or two panel, depending on availability of judges)
  • Young Adult Novel / Young Adult Short Story (two categories sometimes judged by one panel)
  • Children’s Fiction
  • Collection / Anthology (two categories judged by one panel)
  • Illustrated Book / Graphic Novel

The Aurealis Awards accepts digital entries in all categories. Judges must be willing to accept and read entries in this format. Willingness and ability to read digitally is an essential aspect of the judging role.

It is vital that judges be able to work as part of a team and meet stringent deadlines. Most of the judges’ discussions are conducted via a private online forum or email.

Entries to the awards close in early December, with all work published between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 eligible for entry. Shortlists from each panel will be required by March 2023 (firm dates will be advised), and prospective judges should be aware that this may be an intensive process.

Dates for Judging (to be confirmed):

  • July 31, 2022 – judging applications close
  • August 2022 – entries open
  • Mid December 2022 – entries close
  • December 31 2022 – final entries must be received by judges; Convenors’ Award for Excellence entries close
  • March 2023 – shortlists and finalists must be decided by panels
  • April 2023 – Convenors’ Award for Excellence decided by convenors.
  • 2023 – Awards ceremony (details to be advised)

All discussions are confidential between the judges in each panel and the judging coordinator and/or the Aurealis Awards management team, as required. The Aurealis Awards judging coordinator will have no input into these decisions except to mediate panel issues.

Judges from previous Aurealis Awards processes are welcome – indeed encouraged – to re-apply. But, in the interests of transparency and impartiality, no one may judge the same category for more than two consecutive years, and a break of two consecutive years is required before a judge can reapply to be a judge in that particular category again.

Please complete the form below by Sunday 31 July, 2022. 

The judging positions are open to Australian residents only.

https://forms.gle/KfUuJFdxGLZraRA39

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2021 Aurealis Awards Winners

Posted on May 28, 2022 by aaconvenor
Silver medallion with Chimaera logo and text reading Aurealis Awards Winner

The Aurealis Awards management team, on behalf of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s Awards. We also take this opportunity to once again thank the judging panels for all their hard work making the difficult decisions of shortlists and the winning works, the CSFG committee for organising the ceremony, and all the creators and publishers who continue to make the Aurealis Awards Australia’s premier speculative fiction award each year.

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION

Dragon Skin, Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin)

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK

The Curiosities, Zana Fraillon & Phil Lesnie (illustrator) (Hachette Australia) 

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY

“Don’t Look!”, Lisa Fuller (Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales, Wakefield Press)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY

“Don’t Look!”, Lisa Fuller (Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales, Wakefield Press)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA

“All The Long Way Down”, Alf Simpson (Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 3, IFWG Publishing Australia) 

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY

“So-called Bin Chicken”, E J Delaney (Curiouser Magazine #2) 

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA

Bones Of The Sea, Amy Laurens (Inkprint Press) 

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

“Relict: (noun) A Widow; a Thing Remaining From the Past”, Alison Goodman (Relics, Wrecks & Ruins, CAT Press)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA

“Preserved in Amber”, Samantha Murray (Clarkesworld #178)

BEST COLLECTION

The Gulp, Alan Baxter, (self-published) 

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Relics, Wrecks & Ruins, Aiki Flinthart (Ed.), Lauren Elise Daniels & Geneve Flynn (assistant Eds.), CAT Press 

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Waking Romeo, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin) 

BEST HORROR NOVEL

Holly and the Nobodies, Ben Pienaar (Hellbound Books LLC)

BEST FANTASY NOVEL 

Dark Rise, C S Pacat (Allen & Unwin) 

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Waking Romeo, Kathryn Barker (Allen & Unwin)

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD

Blood and Gold [Crown of Rowan (enovella, 2014); Daughters of the Storm (2014); Sisters of the Fire (2016); Queens of the Sea (2019)], Kim Wilkins (HarperCollins) 

CONVENORS’ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE 

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985, Andrew Nette & Iain McIntyre (Eds.) (PM Press)

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2021 Aurealis Awards Ceremony and Writers’ Development Afternoon

Posted on May 9, 2022 by aaconvenor

You are cordially invited to the Aurealis Awards presentation ceremony to be held at the Civic Hellenic Club in Canberra on Saturday May 28, 2022. We hope you’ll be able to attend in person, but a reminder that the event will also be streamed live on Facebook (details coming soon).

The ceremony will commence from 5:00pm with drinks and canapes, with the award presentation to commence from 5:30pm. Dress is anything from Smart Casual to Weird As You Want.

In addition, the Aurealis committee will host a Writers’ Development Afternoon at the venue. There’s an early draft of the program below. The afternoon will not only be a chance to meet and catch up with your peers and friends in the community, but also to hear about the state of the industry and learn from your colleagues. Come join us, whether it’s your first time at a community event or you’re seeing old friends again after what seems like a decade!

We hope you can be a part of the Aurealis Award ceremony, either in person or online. It won’t be the same without you!

Tickets are available from TryBooking:

https://www.trybooking.com/BZJBU – Ceremony ($30.00)

https://www.trybooking.com/BZJCJ – Writers’ Development Afternoon ($20.00)

Small Room
12:00Welcome attendees (Craig Cormick)
12:05Acknowledgement of country
12:10It’s All About Weird panel (Alan Baxter – convenor)
1:00Break
1:10Green Shed Workshop (Kaaron Warren)
2:00Break
2:10Creative PhDs – Wicked or Wondrous
3:00Break
3:10Terms and Conditions – Awards and Their Values (Tehani Croft – convenor)
4:00Break
Large Room
5:00Start of Evening (drinks and nibbles)
5:30Welcome to Awards (Craig Cormick)
5:40Keynote Speech
5:50Commence Ceremony
7:00End


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SAVE THE DATE! Aurealis Awards Ceremony in Canberra!

Posted on April 9, 2022 by aaconvenor
Save the date

The Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG) will be hosting the 2021 Aurealis Awards ceremony on Saturday 28 May, 2022.

When: 5.30pm, Saturday 28 May

Where: The Hellenic Club, 13 Moore Street, Civic

The ceremony will also be live streamed.

Details regarding ceremony ticketing coming soon!

But don’t just plan for the Aurealis Awards ceremony! The CSFG Committee has decided to expand the event to include a Writers’ Development Afternoon to make it a more memorable and worthwhile trip for our interstate peers. The theme will be “The New Unnormal – Weird as we want”. More information to follow.

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